Proceedings of the International Symposium on

Sustainable Systems and Technologies, v2 (2014)

Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector
based on LCA

Jens Malmodin, Ericsson Research, Sweden, jens.malmodin@ericsson.com
Craig Donovan, Ericsson Research, Sweden, craig.donovan@ericsson.com





Abstract

Annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per capita is a common way to look at environmental
performance in the same way as annual GDP per capita is used as a proxy for economic
prosperity and development. In this study, GHG emissions (carbon footprint) per user of ICT or
per amount of data transmitted are examined and discussed. The average carbon footprint for
ICT has decreased from about 300 kg CO2-eq per average user of ICT in 1990 to about 70-100
kg CO2-eq today. The main reason for this decrease is the increase of users in the mobile
subsector where the average carbon footprint has decreased from about 100 kg CO2-eq to
about 30-35 kg during the same time. The current carbon footprint per average ICT user is
rather small, equating to about 1.3 percent of the global total carbon footprint of about 7 000 kg
CO2-eq/capita. However, the total absolute carbon footprint of ICT is increasing, as the increase
in number of users/devices/subscriptions outweighs the efficiency improvements we have seen
so far. This, however, is more than offset by the enablement potential of ICT to reduce the
impact of other sectors, which has been estimated to be around 15 percent. The impact per GB
of data is projected to reduce significantly during this period which shows that there is a non-
linear relationship between data traffic and the carbon footprint of ICT. Given the rapid
advancement of ICT, it is important that studies in this area use up-to-date energy and traffic
data in order to achieve reliable results.








Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technologies (ISSN 2329-9169) is
published annually by the Sustainable Conoscente Network. Melissa Bilec and J un-Ki Choi, co-editors.
ISSSTNetwork@gmail.com.

Copyright 2014 by J ens Malmodin and Craig Donovan, Licensed under CC-BY 3.0.
Cite as:
Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA Proc. ISSST, J ens Malmodin and
Craig Donovan. Doi information v2 (2014)
1
Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA
Introduction

Annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per capita is a common way to look at environmental
performance in the same way as annual GDP per capita is used as a proxy for economic
prosperity and development. In this study, GHG emissions (carbon footprint) per user of ICT or
per amount of data transmitted are examined and discussed.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that stabilizing carbon
dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere to between 445 and 490 parts per million (ppm) (equal to
causing a global average temperature of 2 to 2.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels)
requires that emissions start to decline around 2015 and are reduced by 50-85% by 2050
compared to emissions in 2000. It has been estimated that 80% corresponds to a level of about
1,000 kg CO2-eq/capita in 2050 (J ackson 2009) compared to current emission levels of about
7,000 kg CO2-eq/capita (UN 2010), (WRI 2009). This indicates that emissions in 2050 need to
return to the same absolute levels as they were in approx.1950. This also indicates that
emissions per capita need to be nearly 4 times lower in 2050 compared to 1950, as it is
expected there will be about 4 times more people in the world in 2050.

The information and communication technology (ICT) sector has developed at a staggering
pace and due to the increased use of ICT in society this trend is expected to continue, leading
to questions being raised about the future environmental impact of ICT. Due to this fast
development, the necessity of using up-to-date data is crucial to the overall quality of any study
as the use of older data can lead to incorrect results and conclusions, especially in future
forecasts.

In order to better understand this fast-paced development in the ICT sector and its
environmental impact, up-to-date data for fixed and mobile networks in Sweden have been
collected in recent years. The number of mobile and fixed broadband subscriptions, data rates
and data traffic per subscription and capita in Sweden is among the highest in the world and
Sweden is believed to offer a good indication of the direction of future broadband technology
development.

Definitions and methodology

(Malmodin et al. 2014) defines ICT as including: communication networks from the core network
to the end-user equipment. It covers mobile and fixed access networks (including broadband)
and data transmission and IP core networks. The term ICT also includes user equipment
connected to the networks, such as phones, PCs and modems, enterprise networks, data
centers and the operator activities needed for operation and maintenance. It matches the scope
for ICT recently used by GeSI (2012), apart from printers which in this study is defined to belong
to media, and the scope used in (Malmodin et al. 2010) which also describe how ICT is defined
in relation to Entertainment and Media (E&M) products and services, and recently (Malmodin et
al. 2013) which also discusses OECDs definition of ICT.

The definition of an LCA based carbon footprint is reused from (Malmodin et al. 2013):
A carbon footprint of a product is defined as the sum of all relevant greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions which occur during its complete life cycle as determined by a life cycle assessment
(LCA). A carbon footprint thus includes raw materials acquisition, production and transports of
materials, components and the final assembly and transport of the product itself, as well as use
and end-of-life treatment of the product.

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J. Malmodin and C.Donovan
The study is divided into three parts.

Firstly, data and results from earlier extensive studies of the energy and carbon footprint
of the ICT sector have been updated and new results are presented divided into a fixed
and a mobile part, with performance metrics per user and per amount of data discussed.

Secondly, more detailed and up-to-date data have been collected for the Swedish ICT
sector and up-to-date results for fixed and mobile broadband use in Sweden in 2013 are
presented, with performance metrics per user and per amount of data discussed.

Finally, a comparison and discussion of the performance metrics presented for fixed and
mobile ICT globally and in Sweden are placed into context in relation to other studies
and sectors and for total emissions per capita.

The Carbon Footprint of ICT

ICT on a global scale

The total carbon footprint and operational electricity consumption of the ICT sector globally has
been estimated in two recent studies by (Malmodin et al 2010) and (Malmodin et al 2013). The
results presented here are based primarily on these studies and data for the number of users,
devices, subscriptions and data traffic for the coming years up to 2020 have been updated
based on up-to-date prognoses by (Ericsson 2014) and (Cisco 2014). More information can be
found in Supplementary Information S1.

The total carbon footprint of the ICT sector globally is estimated to increase from about 620 Mt
CO
2-eq in 2007 to about 1 080 Mt CO2-eq in 2020 (updated from 1 060 Mt estimated in
(Malmodin et al 2013), with a large share of the increase in the mobile communications sector
due to a higher number of estimated future subscribers). ICTs share of the global carbon
footprint is estimated to increase from about 1.3% to about 2% and the share of the faster
growing mobile sector is estimated to grow from 0.2% to 0.5% during this period. Currently
(2013), the carbon footprint of the ICT sector is estimated to be about 1.6% of the global carbon
footprint or about 800 Mt CO2-eq in absolute terms. Figure 1 shows GHG emissions (carbon
footprint) per average ICT user and per average fixed and mobile user from 2007 to 2020
(prognosis). Two metrics are presented: firstly the impact per subscriber, which is compared to
the per capita world population, and secondly the impact per gigabyte (GB) of data.











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GHG emissions (carbon footprint) per sub [kg CO
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-eq/sub] GHG emissions (carbon footprint) per GB [kg CO
2
-eq/GB]
sub =Fixed subscriptions (lines) and LAN PCs
sub =Fixed subscriptions (lines) and all PCs
sub =Mobile sub, medium/highsub prognosis/definition
sub =Average ICT sub, medium/highprognosis/definition
sub =capita (per capita in the world)
/
Fixed data ( Total ICT data)
Mobile data (from<1% to about 15% of all data)
/

Figure 1: GHG emissions per user (subscription) and per amount of data transmitted
3
Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA

Depending on the definition of user (e.g. only subscriptions or including all devices such as
PCs), the carbon footprint for fixed users ranges from 200 - 270 kg CO2-eq per user in 2007 to
estimates of 160 - 260 kg CO2-eq in 2020. In contrast, the corresponding figures for mobile
users (e.g. all subscriptions) are from about 27 kg CO2-eq per user in 2007 to estimates of 28 -
35 kg CO2-eq in 2020. The estimated increase is mainly related to the manufacturing of larger
and more advanced mobile devices in the future. The carbon footprint for the average user of
ICT has decreased from 110 - 125 kg to 70 - 100 kg, mainly as the share of mobile users with a
much lower footprint has increased. However, the carbon footprint for ICT per capita in the
world has increased from about 100 kg to about 130 kg as each user is estimated to have more
subscriptions and devices in 2020 and this rate of increase is greater than the population
increase.

The carbon footprint per amount of fixed data transmitted is estimated to decrease from nearly 6
kg CO2-eq/GB in 2007 to about 0.25 kg CO2-eq/GB. Mobile data is estimated to decrease from
about 100 kg CO2-eq/GB to about 0.5 kg CO2-eq/GB during the same period. This clearly
highlights that the rapid increase in data capacity is not having a significant impact on the
overall carbon footprint of the ICT sector.

ICT in Sweden

A recent article published by (Malmodin et al. 2014) is considered to be the most detailed and
complete LCA study of the operational electricity consumption and carbon footprint for
nationwide ICT networks. The results presented here are based primarily on this research,
however, the LCA model has been further developed with new data collected for 2013 in order
to present the most up-to-date results.

The development of fixed broadband in Sweden appears to have entered a more mature stage.
Between 2012 and 2013 there was no increase in the number of connected households, with
3.1 million connected lines in both years. Data rates and data traffic continue to increase but at
a slightly lower rate than previously. There is an ongoing transition to more fiber connections at
the expense of older copper lines (xDSL), however fiber connections are not included in this
study. See table S2.1 in Supplementary Information S2 for detailed data about fixed broadband
in Sweden in 2010 and 2013.

Table 1 below shows GHG emissions for an average fixed broadband (xDSL) subscription for
an average household in Sweden 2010. Results for both the actual Swedish electricity mix and
a scenario with global average electricity mix are presented. It is evident that the impact from
electricity significantly affects the result. In Sweden electricity production is based primarily on
hydro and nuclear with relatively low GHG emissions given at 0.06 kg CO
2-eq/kWh, whilst the
impact from the world average electricity mix is given as 0.6 kg CO2-eq/kWh (Malmodin et al.
2014). Here we see over twice the impact (from 216 to 558 kg CO2-eq) when using the global
electricity mix.

A special use case for a household with 4 persons (2 tablets, 1 laptop, 1 high-end desktop) with
high data usage in 2013 and with additional broadband telephony (VoIP) and IPTV services (so
called triple-play or 3-play) has been assessed for the purpose of this study and is also
presented in Table 1. Our research shows that a significant portion of the impact comes from
the user devices and this is evident in the result of this scenario with over twice the impact as
the average case (from 558 to 1138 kg CO2-eq), however, the carbon footprint per capita
remains nearly the same.
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J. Malmodin and C.Donovan
Table 1. Total annual GHG emissions (carbon footprint) per subscriber/line and per capita (average number
of persons in connected households) for a number of fixed broadband (xDSL) cases in Sweden.
Case
Total carbon footprint
per sub/line, per capita and
per amount of data
More information
Average xDSL sub/line 2010
(Swedish electricity mix in the use stage)
216 kg CO2-eq/
sub/line
103 kg CO2-eq/
capita
2.1 persons and 1.5 PCs
in the average household
0.6 kg CO2-eq/GB
Average xDSL sub/line 2010
(Global electricity mix in the use stage)
558 kg CO2-eq/
sub/line
266 kg CO2-eq/
capita
1.55 kg CO2-eq/GB
Special xDSL sub/line case 2013
(Global electricity mix in the use stage)
913 kg CO2-eq/
sub/line
228 kg CO2-eq/
capita
Special case: 4 persons
(2 tablets, 1 laptop,
1 high-end desktop)
and high data traffic
0.55 kg CO2-eq/GB
with 3-play (xDSL, IPTV, VoIP,
see More information)
(Global electricity mix in the use stage)
1138 kg CO2-eq/
sub/line
284 kg CO2-eq/
capita
3-play scenario with also
broadband telephony (VoIP)
and IPTV in addition to the
special case described above


Note that the carbon footprint presented is complete in that sense it includes all relevant life
cycle stages and all user and network equipment and data services (data centers). More details
can be found in Supplementary Information S2 where data and results for different life cycle
stages and for different user and network equipment can be found.

The use of mobile broadband (3G/WCDMA) started early (2003) in Sweden and after a slow
start in terms of subscription and data traffic growth, the development has been more rapid
since 2006 and the rapid development continues today with 4G/LTE. The first 4G/LTE network
in the world was brought online in Stockholm in 2009 and currently three nationwide 4G/LTE
networks are being constructed, out of which one is shared between two of the four main
operators. Possible data rates and actual data traffic in Sweden is the highest in the world on a
national level in the mobile sector (2013). The estimated annual data traffic in 2013 (based on
actual data traffic for the first half of 2013) is about 30 GB/subscriber which equal 2.5 GB/month.
Note that this is the average traffic of all 3G and 4G subscriptions and that data traffic per 4G
subscriber is even higher. The average traffic for 3G/4G subscriptions with data as stand-alone
service is about 6 GB/month. See table S3.1 in the supplementary material for detailed data
about the development of mobile broadband networks and subscriptions in Sweden 2006-2013,
plus an estimate for 2015.

Table 2 below shows GHG emissions for an average 3G mobile broadband subscription in
Sweden in 2010. Results for both the actual Swedish electricity mix and a scenario with global
average electricity mix are presented.



5
Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA
Table 2. Total annual GHG emissions (carbon footprint) per average mobile broadband (3G/4G) subscription
(sub) in Sweden. For comparison, a GSM sub 2010 with mainly voice/sms and some data and a smartphone, tablet
and a laptop sub in 2013 with 3G/4G subscriptions and high data traffic are also presented.
Case (subscription)
Data
(/year)
Total carbon footprint
per sub and per
amount of data
More information
Average mobile 3G sub 2010
(Swedish electricity mix)
8.5 GB
25 kg CO2-eq/sub
2.9 kg CO2-eq/GB
Average mobile device
including laptops with 50%
of its use allocated to
mobile use
Average mobile 3G sub 2010
(Global electricity mix in the use stage,
used also in all cases below)
8.5 GB
50 kg CO2-eq/sub
5.9 kg CO2-eq/GB

GSM sub with voice/sms/data 2010
(not included in figure 3)
0.7 GB
34 kg CO2-eq/sub
49 kg CO2-eq/GB
0.4 GB voice/sms, 0.3 GB data
Smartphone and average data 2013 30 GB
42 kg CO2-eq/sub
1.4 kg CO2-eq/GB
High-end smartphone
Tablet and high data 2013 70 GB
67 kg CO2-eq/sub
0.96 kg CO2-eq/GB

Laptop and high data 2013
(not included in figure 3)
150 GB
115 kg CO2-eq/sub
0.77 kg CO2-eq/GB
Laptop use and manufacturing
allocated 100% to mobile

Note that the carbon footprint presented is complete in the sense that it includes all relevant life
cycle stages and all user and network equipment and data services (data centers). For
comparison, results for a GSM subscriber in 2010 with mainly voice/sms and some data and a
smartphone, tablet and laptop sub in 2013 with 3G/4G subscriptions and high data traffic are
also presented in table 2. The largest impact comes from the manufacturing of the devices;
hence the increasing impact as the complexity and size of device increases. More details can
be found in the supplementary material where data and results for different life cycle stages and
for different user and network equipment can be found.

The carbon footprint results presented in Table 2 can be compared to the global mobile average
of 28 - 35 kg CO2-eq estimated in 2020 and presented in Figure 1. With a global electricity mix
to make the Swedish figures more international the carbon footprint for a high-end smartphone
with 2.5 GB/month has then a footprint which is about 33% higher than the estimated average
footprint per global mobile user in 2020.

Placing the ICT footprint into context

The carbon footprint figures per ICT user presented in this study are summarized below in
Figure 2 and placed into context by relating them to similar figures from other sectors and some
national and global average figures per capita. This allows us to understand the magnitude of
the ICT impact in relation to total GHG emissions per capita.

Figure 2 shows that the impact from ICT per subscription/user is a relatively small portion of the
overall footprint of the average person in the world, and that mobile communications are a small
portion of the total ICT impact.
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J. Malmodin and C.Donovan
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Average car
in Sweden (/car)
Average car
in Sweden (/capita)
Average person in
the world (/capita)
Average person in
Sweden (/capita)
Agriculture,
forestry, waste
Industry*
Buildings
Stockholm-Oakland
air flight (/passenger)
Fuel production and energy production losses
Transports and travel
International, trade, transports and travel
Official national emissions
Official national emissions
Average person in
US (/capita)
Car, fuel and infra-
structure production
Aircraft, fuel and infra-
structure production
plus additional aviation
emission effects
Two US fridges
(low energy models)
3.5x
3G/4G 2013, tablet,
high data traffic (/sub)
3G, average smart-
phone + data (/sub)
xDSL line, special
case 2013 (/capita)
If Swedish electricity mix
is changed to global (US)
electricity mix
Global fixed
average (/user)
Global mobile
average (/sub)
kg CO
2
-eq / unit (/year)
Global
average
Swedish
average
Fridges manufacturing

Figure 2: Total annual GHG emissions (carbon footprint) per average ICT subscription/user in relation to
similar figures for other sectors and figures per capita in Sweden, US and globally.

Why is two US fridges included in Figure 2? Recently it was claimed that a smartphone, if the
network and data centers also are included, has about the same annual energy footprint as two
fridges in the US. More details and references can be found in Supplementary Information S4.
This claim served as one source of inspiration and motivation to complete this study. Our
research shows this claim is incorrect by at least one order of magnitude. We find that two
fridges consume about 10 times more energy compared to an average smartphone user
utilizing a broadband mobile network. Two fridges (modern low energy model) that consume
700 kWh give about 420 kg CO2-eq (world mix: 0.6 kg CO2-eq/kWh) from operation alone which
is about 10 times the carbon footprint presented for a high-end smartphone in Sweden in 2013.
We consider that part of the reason for the error was the use of older energy and data figures
that were multiplied with higher data traffic without considering the rapid changes in the energy
consumption and impact of ICT networks.

Discussion

The pervasive nature of ICT will see a continued increase in the number of subscribers and
connected devices in the coming years. While, the ICT share of the global carbon footprint is
estimated to increase from about 1.3% to about 2% between 2007 and 2020, the enablement
potential for ICT to reduce emissions in the other 98% is substantial. In the recent GeSI
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Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA
SMARTer2020 study (GeSI 2012), the potential for ICT to reduce the impact of other sectors
was estimated to be around a 15% reduction in the global carbon footprint of non-ICT sectors,
thereby significantly offsetting the increased footprint of the ICT sector alone.

The results show that a mobile broadband subscriber has a significantly smaller footprint than a
fixed xDSL subscriber by around one order of magnitude. Thus, as the ICT sector continues to
expand, modernization of ICT equipment plays a vital role in determining the magnitude of the
sectors carbon footprint. There is now increasing focus across the industry on end-to-end
energy consumption in ICT networks with a strong drive to reduce total network energy. As
much of the impact comes from energy use during operation, this attention to energy
consumption by the industry will be instrumental in determining the long-term impact of the ICT
sector.

In this study, two metrics for evaluating the carbon footprint of ICT are presented; firstly, based
on the human element of a subscriber or per capita value and, secondly, based on the digital
element of data traffic in the network. The subscriber metric is considered to be the more
versatile as it allows for the ICT footprint per subscriber or person to be placed into the broader
context of the total carbon footprint per capita. In this context, the results show that the average
ICT impact per capita is around 100 kg CO
2-eq, which is particularly low given the total
estimated global impact per capita of 7000 kg CO2-eq. It has been estimated by J ackson (2009)
that that the per capita GHG emissions need to be about 1 000 kg CO2-eq in 2050. The impact
and enablement potential of ICT will become increasingly important when considering how to
achieve future scenarios for GHG reduction. In contrast, while the data metric does not lend to
placing the ICT footprint into a broader context, it is still value to understand the development of
the ICT sector itself from an environmental perspective. What is evident is that there is not a
linear relationship between the carbon footprint of ICT and data traffic, in other words, projected
significant increases in data traffic do not lead to significant increases in the ICT footprint.

The assessment of energy consumption and data traffic in Sweden shows that the increase in
data traffic currently in Sweden (about double data traffic in three years) gives an energy
footprint in 2013 (0.75 kWh CO2-eq/GB) that is about half compared to the energy footprint in
2010. It is also very important to know what is included and what is not included in this figure.
This figure does not include any user equipment like PCs and is only 0.25 kWh/GB if data
services (data centers) are excluded and becomes even smaller (0.1 kWh/GB) if only the
network and not the residential gateway is included. Such figures that are intended to represent
the energy consumption of various parts of what we call the Internet are compared to other
similar figures and differences are discussed in Supplementary Information S5.

Conclusion

In this paper we have presented the total estimated carbon footprint of the ICT sector in relation
to the total global carbon footprint and projected this for a 2020 scenario. We have also
presented the ICT footprint of the nationwide ICT network in Sweden and placed this in the
global context through the use of the global electricity mix. Finally, we have placed the impact
in relation to a subscriber or per capita value in context of the current total footprint of a person
globally. The results show that the share of the ICT sectors global footprint in relation to the
total global footprint is estimated to increase from about 1.3% to about 2% between 2007 and
2020, whilst the impacts per subscriber remain relatively constant for the same period. This
increase is significantly offset by the potential for ICT to reduce the global carbon in other non-
ICT sectors by around 15%. The impact per GB of data is estimated to reduce significantly
during this period which shows that there is a non-linear relationship between data traffic and
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J. Malmodin and C.Donovan
the carbon footprint (i.e. an increase in data traffic does not lead to a significant increase in the
environmental impact). However, the data traffic metric has some limitations for placing the ICT
footprint into the context of the total global footprint. Given the rapid advancement of ICT, it is
important that studies in this area use up-to-date energy and traffic data in order to achieve
reliable results.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge our colleagues and friends at TeliaSonera and CESC
(Centre for Sustainable Communications) in Sweden for their valuable data and insights.

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Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA
Supplementary Information (S)

Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector
based on LCA

Jens Malmodin, Ericsson Research, Sweden, jens.malmodin@ericsson.com
Craig Donovan, Ericsson Research, Sweden, craig.donovan@ericsson.com

(S1) ICT on a global level

Figure S1 below show the total GHG emissions and operational electricity consumption (use
stage only) of the ICT sector divided into a fixed and a mobile part on the highest level.












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PCs (all types, excluding tablets)
Mobile access networks
Data centers, data transmission and IP core






A1: Total GHG emissions (carbon footprint) [Mt CO
2
e] A2: Total GHG emissions (carbon footprint) [Mt CO
2
e]
1.1% of global
1.4% of global
0.2% of global
0.5% of global












0
200
400
600
800
1000
2
0
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2
0
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0
B1: Total operational electricity consumption [TWh]
0
200
400
600
800
1000
2
0
0
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B2: Total operational electricity consumption [TWh]
3.5% of global 3.7% of global
0.4% of global
1% of global

Figure S1.1: Total GHG emissions (carbon footprint) and operational electricity consumption of the ICT
sector globally 2007-2020. The total GHG emissions (carbon footprint) (1) and operational electricity consumption
(2) are presented split on a fixed (A1, B1) and a mobile (A2, B2) part.
10
J. Malmodin and C.Donovan

The results presented in figure S1.1 are based primarily on studies of the total carbon footprint
and operational electricity consumption of the ICT sector globally (Malmodin et al 2010,
Malmodin et al 2013). Data for number of users, devices, subscriptions and data traffic for the
coming years up to 2020 have been updated based on up-to-date prognoses by (Ericsson
2014) and (Cisco 2014).

Data centers, data transmission and IP core have been allocated to the fixed and mobile part
based on their share of total data traffic. 1.25 billion Tablets and 0.45 billion laptops have been
allocated 50% to the mobile part based on mobile use based in turn on data traffic (Cisco 2014).

Table S1.1. Global ICT sector key data for 2007 and 2020. The subscription (sub) numbers are per mid-year.
Fixed devices and networks Mobile devices and networks
Users in 2007 2 - 2.7 billion users
1
2.95 billion users (= subs)
Users in 2020 3 - 5 billion users
2
7.6 - 9.5 billion users (= subs)
Data traffic in 2020 vs 2007 30x 500x (including voice as data)
Additional information
In addition, 8 billion IP connected
devices is estimated in 2020
(Cisco 2014)
10 billion M2M devices is assumed in
the connected devices scenario
(Malmodin et al. 2013)
Current prognosis: 3 billion 2020
(Cisco 2014)
1
Users defined as all fixed PSTN and broadband subscriptions plus active LAN ports with a PC connected
2
Users defined as all fixed PSTN and broadband subscriptions plus all PCs (including active LAN ports with a PC
connected). By this definition several PC users in a connected household is also counted as users.

11
Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA
(S2) ICT in Sweden

Table S2.1 below shows detailed data about fixed broadband in Sweden 2010 and 2013.
Subscription data are based on (PTS 2012) and (PTS 2013). Energy consumption data are
based on (Malmodin et al. 2014) for the year 2010 and 2013 are estimated in this study (based
on 2010 data and the new subscription data).

Table S2.1. Number of fixed broadband data subscriptions (subs), electricity consumption and data traffic
per year in fixed broadband networks in Sweden 2010 and 2013.
2010 2013 More information
Subs (lines)
PSTN data (data modems) (0.6 million) (0.1 million) Dial up modems - Narrowband
xDSL 1.7 million 1.4 million
Fiber 0.55 million 1.1 million
Cable TV 0.55 million 0.6 million
Total subs (lines) 2.8 million 3.1 million Not including PSTN subs
Energy consumption
PSTN access nodes (145 GWh) (145 GWh) Not included in totals
xDSL access nodes 56 GWh 56 GWh
1

Fiber access nodes 17 GWh 34 GWh
Cable-TV access nodes 17 GWh 19 GWh
CPE: Modems, routers
and gateways
327 GWh 310 GWh
New combo gateways are assumed in 2013
replacing old modem+router setups
Data transmission
and IP core network
95 GWh
(75%, 0.08
kWh/GB)
87 GWh
(70%, 0.04
kWh/GB)
Allocation: % of total data traffic =
% of total electricity consumption
Total energy consumption 512 GWh 522 GWh
Network: Access + CPE + IP core
(not including user equipment and data centers)
Data traffic and
performance metrics

Total data traffic 1.2 million TB 2.2 million TB Data traffic in 2013 is estimated
Data traffic per sub (line) 360 GB/sub 710 GB/sub
Energy per data 0.43 kWh/GB 0.24 kWh/GB
Energy per sub (line) 183 kWh/sub 168 kWh/sub
1
Even if number of subs/lines is decreasing it is assumed that the same network equipment is in operation with about
the same energy consumption

The energy consumption for fixed broadband in Sweden is not expected to grow anymore as
number of lines has stopped to increase. A small decrease is even estimated per subscription
(line), mainly as a result of new combo gateways that is assumed to have replaced all older
modem and router setups in 2013. Question now is if fixed broadband will start to decline in the
near future as users move to mobile broadband (4G)?

The total energy consumption of PSTN nodes was about 145 GWh in 2010 but main use is
classical voice telephony and not data transmission. Fixed voice subscriptions have decreased
from 5.4 million 2010 to only 4 million in 2013 but the same energy consumption (same network)
can be assumed.
12
J. Malmodin and C.Donovan
Figure S2.1 below shows GHG emissions for an average fixed broadband (xDSL) subscription
for an average household in Sweden 2010. Results for both the actual Swedish electricity mix
and a scenario with global average electricity mix are presented. Note that the carbon footprint
presented is complete in that sense it includes all relevant life cycle stages and all user and
network equipment and data services (data centers). A special use case for a household with 4
persons (2 tablets, 1 laptop, 1 high-end desktop) with high data usage in 2013 is also presented
in figure S2.1.
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Transmission
IP metro/core
CPE
User PCs
Operator
activities
Data centers
Access
network
Always onmode: 118 kWh
1.5 modems/routers on average
31 kWh
Electricity operation: 309 kWh
1.5 PCs on average
29 kWh (360 GB, 0.08 kWh/GB)
183 kWh
0 100 200 300
Operation (Swedish electricity)
Operation (Global average electricity)
4.8 kWh
Operation (other energy)
Manufacturing (including EoLT)
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 kg CO
2
-eq /
average xDSL
subscription/line
(/year)
Average in
Sweden 2010
(0.06 kg CO
2
-eq/kWh)
with global (US)
electricity mix
(0.6 kg CO
2
-eq/kWh)
Special use case for Sweden 2013
with global (US) electricity mix
(0.6 kg CO
2
-eq/kWh)
96 kWh, 1 modern gateway
593 kWh, 1 laptop,
1 high-end desktop, 2 tablets
(2 work laptops and 4 smartphones
also uses the xDSL/WiFi but they
are not included)
245 kWh
90 kWh (1800 GB, 0.05 kWh/GB)

Figure S2.1: GHG emissions (carbon footprint) for different life cycle stages, devices and network
components for a fixed broadband (xDSL) subscription (sub) in Sweden in 2010.

13
Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA
Table S3.1 below shows detailed data about mobile broadband in Sweden 2006-2015.
Subscription data and mobile data traffic data are based on (PTS 2008), (PTS 2010), (PTS
2012) and (PTS 2013).

Table S3.1. Number of mobile broadband data subscriptions (subs), electricity consumption and data traffic
per year in mobile broadband networks (3G/4G) in Sweden 2006-2015.
3G
networks
Network energy
consumption
Subscriptions
(mid-year)
Energy per sub
[kWh/sub]
Data per sub
[GB/sub]
Energy per data
[kWh/GB]
2006 105 GWh 1.2 million 90 0.2 500
2007 113 GWh
2008 120 GWh 3.1 million 40 4 9
2009 127 GWh
2010 134 GWh 6.4 million
1
21 8.5 2.5
3G and 4G
networks


2011 170 GWh
2012 195 GWh 9.7 million 20 18 1
2013 220 GWh 10.5 million
2
21 30
3
0.7
3

2015 est. 250 GWh 12 million 21 >45 <0.5
1
2010: 1.5 million with mobile data as stand-alone service and 0.8 million smartphone data subs
2
2013: 2.1 million with mobile data as stand-alone service and 4.8 million smartphone data subs
3
Based on data traffic measurements up to and including Q2 2013

Energy consumption have been measured in one of two nationwide 3G networks 2006-2009,
see (Malmodin et al. 2014). Figure S3.2 below shows GHG emissions for an average 3G mobile
broadband subscription in Sweden 2010. Results for both the actual Swedish electricity mix and
a scenario with global average electricity mix are presented. Note that the carbon footprint
presented is complete in that sense it includes all relevant life cycle stages and all user and
network equipment and data services (data centers). A special use case for a smartphone and a
tablet in 2013 with 3G/4G subscriptions and high data traffic are also presented in figure S3.2.

14
J. Malmodin and C.Donovan
0 10 20 30 40
Transmission
IP metro/core
Mobile
device
Operator
activities
Data centers
Access
network
0 10 20 30
Operation (Swedish electricity)
Operation (Global average electricity)
Operation (other energy)
Manufacturing (including EoLT)
kg CO
2
-eq /
average mobile
3G subscription
(/year)
Average mobile 3G sub
in Sweden 2010
(0.06 kg CO
2
-eq/kWh)
with global (US)
electricity mix
(0.6 kg CO
2
-eq/kWh)
with smartphone
and average data traffic
(0.6 kg CO2-eq/kWh)
Control &
core nodes
1.3 kWh
2.5 kWh
0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40
3G/4G 2013 and tablet
and high data traffic
(0.6 kg CO2-eq/kWh)
23 kWh
2.7 kWh
4 kWh
13 kWh
1.3 kWh
2.5 kWh
23 kWh
2.7 kWh
4 kWh
13 kWh 3 kWh 15 kWh
20 kWh
32 kWh
Base load: 20 kWh
Data traffic: 12 kWh
7 kWh

Figure S3.2: GHG emissions (carbon footprint) for different life cycle stages, devices and network
components for a mobile broadband (3G/4G) subscription (sub) in Sweden in 2010.

For comparison, the electricity consumption in the Swedish GSM networks was estimated to
about 170 GWh in 2010 for the three nationwide GSM networks in operation by that time. About
12 million subscribers (including GSM voice use by 3G/4G smartphone subscribers) used the
GSM networks in 2010 with their subscriptions and the electricity consumption of the GSM
networks per subscription was then about 14 kWh/year. However, if only the about 6 million
GSM only subscriptions in 2010 is counted according to (PTS 2012) the electricity consumption
per GSM subscription was about 27 kWh/year. Two of the three nationwide GSM networks have
recently been modernized and merged into one network and it is estimated that the energy
consumption have been reduced by about 25% or by 15%-20% for all GSM networks. At the
same time, GSM only subscriptions are decreasing as more and more subscribers get new
3G/4G mobile devices.

There was also about 4 million M2M subs at the end of 2013 (mainly GSM, increasing by about
1 million per year) but their combined data traffic was only in the order of 0.1% of total mobile
data traffic and their revenue was only about 2% of total revenue or about 1/10 compared to an
average human sub. These M2M subs are not included in the performance metrics, e.g.
carbon footprint per human sub, presented in the main article.
15
Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA
(S3) False claim: Two US fridges = one US smartphone (including the network)

More correct is that two fridges has an energy footprint that is at least 10 times higher

The original report (no scientific peer review) behind the claim is (Mills 2013). And excellent
debunking of the claim and more information with links to news and more appropriate scientific
references can be found in an excellent blog by J onathan Koomey, see (Koomey 2013).

There are two main reasons for the very high estimate in the claim of the energy consumption of
the network part for a typical mobile broadband subscription:

The estimated network use energy (electricity) consumption (300 kWh) is derived from
older estimates of energy consumed per amount of data sent in the network. As this
study shows energy/data figures change fast and should be used with care. Older figures
can lead to wrong estimates. It is better to work with energy/sub figures over time as they
are more stable. The more detailed and up-to-date study of the Swedish 3G/4G networks
presented in this paper estimates the energy consumption to be 23 kWh/sub per year for
the base stations and mobile core nodes and another 10.5 kWh for other network parts
including data transport, data centers and the operators own stores and offices. The total
(33.5 kWh) is about 9 times lower than the estimate made in the claim. US networks
have similar or only slightly higher energy consumption per subscriber as Swedish
networks.

The network manufacturing energy in the claim was estimated to be equal to the use
energy based on another study which stated that the manufacturing energy is about 60%
of the use energy (Humar et al. 2011) and then it was assumed that this figure somehow
would rise to 100% if a complete network view was used. There was a large error in
(Humar et al. 2011) as primary energy in the manufacturing stage was compared directly
with secondary electric energy in the use stage without converting the secondary electric
energy to primary energy (it takes about 3 kWh of primary energy to produce 1 kWh
electric energy and the waste heat can and are seldom used). The estimate of the
primary energy consumed was high to begin with but there was also a mismatch
between the size of the base station and its energy consumption. Together with the mix
of energy forms, a too high embodied energy to begin with and the wrong assumption
that manufacturing energy =use energy, the estimate was in the end about 50 times (!)
higher than results presented by base station manufacturers such as the authors
represents, e.g. (Malmodin et al. 2014).

The energy consumption estimate for the manufacturing of the smartphone itself (100 kWh) in
the claim is also higher than results from studies made by smartphone manufacturers. That is if
the 100 kWh is to be interpreted as electric energy (hard to tell based on the report). But as the
whole background report behind the claim is about electricity consumption and two fridges
consumes electricity it can be assumed to also be electricity. The same error of mixing primary
and secondary energy described above for network manufacturing energy seems to also be the
case here. Manufacturing energy or embodied energy is a result from an LCA and it describes
nearly without exceptions primary energy and not electric energy.

Table S4.1 on the next page shows a step-by-step comparison of the false claim and results
presented in this study.
16
J. Malmodin and C.Donovan

Table S4.1. Step-by-step comparison of the false claimand results presented in this study.
User and network equipment/part
False claim This study
Energy CO2-eq Energy CO2-eq
Mobile broadband network use energy
consumption including data transport
and data services (data centers)
300 kWh
(electricity)
900 kWh
(primary energy)
180 kg
33.5 kWh
(electricity)
100 kWh
(primary energy)
20 kg
Mobile broadband network
manufacturing energy consumption
300 kWh
(electricity)
900 kWh
(primary energy)
180 kg
30 kWh
2

(primary energy)
6 kg
Smartphone use and manufacturing
100 kWh
(electricity)
300 kWh
(primary energy)
60 kg
75 kWh
2

(primary energy)
15 kg
Actual smartphone use (3 kWh) (2 kg)
Total 2 100 kWh 420 kg 210 kWh 42 kg
1
It is assumed that it takes about 3 kWh primary energy to produce 1 kWh secondary electric energy (measured at
the consumer including transformation and distribution losses) on average in the world and that this assumption also
is valid for US electricity with about the same share of fossil fuels in the production mix.
2
It is assumed that about 0.20 kg CO2-eq is emitted for every kWh of primary energy consumed in the manufacturing
stage. As most energy consumed during the manufacturing stage is electricity in the ICT sector, the global average
electricity model used (0.6 kg CO2-eq/kWh, secondary electric energy) gives about 0.2 kg CO2-eq/kWh (primary
energy). This should be seen as a conservative estimate that gives a slightly larger result as oil based primary fuel
energy has an average of about 0.26 kg CO2-eq and that about 10% to 30% is primarily oil based fossil fuel
consumed for transports and travel in the manufacturing stage of ICT products.

17
Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA
(S5) Comparison of figures for energy consumption per amount of data transmitted

Table S5.1 below show Swedish data traffic in comparison to other countries and the EU; note
that the growth was higher in Western Europe, J apan and US in 2009, about 40-50% per year
according to MINTS (2009).

Table S5.1. Year-end 2009 estimates for monthly Internet traffic based on MINTS (2009).
Country / region Traffic per capita (GB/month) Traffic growth per year (2009)
Western Europe and Japan 5
US 7 40% - 50%
Sweden, based on (Malmodin et al. 2014) 10.5
1
30%
Hong Kong 22.5
South Korea 30
1
This is for 2009 to be comparable to MINTS (2009), the results for Sweden in 2010 is 14 GB/capita.

Table S5.2 below shows energy per amount of data figures for fixed broadband data flows
presented in this study compared to some other studies that present similar figure which in turn
has been used in other studies.

Table S5.2. Comparison of energy per amount of data figures for fixed broadband data flows for various
parts of the network based on (Malmodin et al. 2014). All energy figures presented are per GB data.
Network part Weber (2009)
1
Baliga (2009)
2
Coroama (2009) Malmodin (2014)
Year of data 2010
1
Future model
2
2009
2010
(2013)
Main access type xDSL optical LAN xDSL
CPE (average modem/router/
gateway for xDSL in this study)
1.2 kWh
0.11 kWh
Not included (seen
as access network)
0.3 kWh
(0.15 kWh)
Access network (xDSL/DSLAM
in this study)
0.06 kWh
0.2 kWh
(point of access is
5/32 Gbps routers)
0.08 kWh
(0.04 kWh)
Data transmission and
IP core network
0.08 kWh
(0.04 kWh)
International submarine cable
system (share)
3

no info
0.02 kWh
(0.01 kWh)
Open (Internet) enterprise data
centers (share)
3

2.3 kWh Not included
Not included
as a p2p video
conference was
studied
1 kWh
(0. 5 kWh)
(<50% of access
data traffic)
3

Total without data centers 1.2 kWh 0.17 kWh 0.2 kWh
0.46 kWh
(0.23 kWh)
Total with data centers (assumes
also 0% p2p data traffic)
3.5 kWh Not included Not included
1.5 kWh
(0.75 kWh)
1
Extrapolated from results for 2008 which in turn was extrapolated from older data from other studies.
2
Can be considered to be more of a state-of-the-art new all IP/optical network model with high data traffic.
0.1 Mbps (approx. 400 GB/year) and oversubscription ratio = 25 (2.5 Mbps) related to the presented figure of
0.17 kWh/GB (75 J/bit) for typical low access rates which was chosen for this comparison. This was the point that
best matched the average traffic in Sweden 2010 although the edge/metro/core part got close to zero as a result of
how the model was built.
3
Note that slightly more than half of all access data traffic is not related to enterprise data center services as it is p2p
traffic or go to the operators telecom / data center, e.g. managed IP services (e.g. IPTV). Which means that this
figure is only related to <50% of the about 400 GB estimated for an average fixed broadband line in Sweden 2010.
18
J. Malmodin and C.Donovan
The Weber (2009) figure (3.5 kWh/GB) is from the US which at that time (2009/2010) had about
2/3 of the data traffic per capita compared to Sweden (see table S5.1). The figure was
extrapolated from older data using rather high growth rates to not underestimate energy/data for
the purpose of the study (comparing downloading to physical delivery of CDs). Taking this in
consideration the figure was a good approximation knowing it was probably a bit high and a
good example how energy/data figure can be used even if the source data is dated back a few
years. Considering the higher data traffic in Sweden per capita the figure compares well to this
study. However, in the case of downloading larger files the performance of a data center is
usually better but a conservative estimate was made for the purpose of that study.

The Baliga (2009) study has modeled what can be considered as more of a state-of-the-art new
all IP/optical network with high data traffic. The model looks to be excellent for such networks in
the future but it seems the results for typical access data rates of today (or in 2010, 2.5 Mbps
sold, 0.1 Mbps on average, 400 GB/year) is too low which can be explained by that this is an
extreme case for the model. The figure 75 J /bit or 0.17 kWh/GB was presented in the study for
Internet and low access data rates. The new equipment data used in the model is not
representative for installed equipment in 2009/2010 and the CPE part power draw was only 5 W
on average as only a simple modem was modelled. The physical data transmission links at the
edge of the network seems to be underestimated compared to this study and the
edge/metro/core part approaches zero for low bit rates (<10 Mbps) which indicates that a high
base load is assumed (or that this is rather an effect of the model). The result for low bit rates
can be interpreted as the case for an individual line with low data traffic in a network with
otherwise high data traffic. For high data rates (100 Mbps sold, 2.5 Mbps on average,
approx.10 000 GB/year) the energy/data figure is approx. 0.01 kWh/GB which is a type of
performance that lay many years into the future for fixed residential broadband in real live
networks.

If the Baliga (2009) figure (0.17 kWh/GB) is modified with a residential gateway (RGW)
consuming 11 W (as in the 3-play case in this study) and the edge/metro/core networks average
operation point (about 4 W/line) is chosen instead the resulting figure (0.4 kWh/GB) is more
representative for current networks and comparable to the result of this study for the same
network parts (0.46 kWh/GB). It has been observed in this study that the data traffic is about
twice as high in high-end cable-TV data and so called city networks (Ethernet/fiber) which
represents about 40% of all lines. The share of xDSL lines may be lower in Baliga (2009) and
this may explain the difference (no information found).

The Coroama (2013) figure (0.2 kWh/GB) is based on actual network nodes involved in a video
data stream between J apan and Switzerland over the US in 2009 for the data transmission and
IP core network only (no CPE and LAN access). The point of access is 5/32 Gbps routers which
also means the lowest level of physical data transmission links (between the broadband access
node and the edge network) is not included as its based on a LAN. The utilization of the first
routers was very low and together with the age of data (2009) the conclusion was that the figure
was to be seen as a max figure. Considering the difference between Sweden and Western
Europe, US and J apan in table S5.1, the figure seems to be a very good approximation for listed
countries/regions in 2009.

Another new study (Schien et al. 2013) also compares energy/data figures from several other
studies and also present own new figures. The new figures presented for mobile access and
Internet network (0.3 kWh/GB) and fixed access and Internet network (0.04 kWh/GB) cannot be
compared to the figures presented in this study as idle or stand-by energy consumption was not
included which it is in this study.
19
Energy and carbon footprint performance metrics for the ICT sector based on LCA
Supplementary Information References

Baliga et al 2009, Energy Consumption in Optical IP Networks. IEEE. J ournal of Lightwave
Technology. Volume 27, issue 13:
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4815495&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeex
plore.ieee.org%2Fiel5%2F50%2F5133707%2F04815495.pdf%3Farnumber%3D4815495

Coroama, V., L. Hilty, E. Heiri, F. Horn. 2013. The direct Energy Demand of Internet Data Flows.
Journal of Industrial Ecology 17(5):680-688.

Humar, I., Ge Xiaohu, Xiang Lin, J o Minho, Chen Min, and Zhang J ing. 2011. Rethinking
energy efficiency models of cellular networks with embodied energy. Network, IEEE. vol.
25, no. 2. pp. 40-49.

Koomey, J . 2013. Does Your iPhone Use As Much Electricity As a New Refrigerator? Not Even
Close. Available at: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/08/25/2518361/iphone-electricity-
refrigerator/

Lundn, D., J . Malmodin. 2013. Changes in environmental impacts over time in the fast
developing ICT industry. LCM 2013, 26-29 August 2013, Gothenburg. Available at:
http://conferences.chalmers.se/index.php/LCM/LCM2013/paper/view/580/180

Malmodin, J ., . Moberg, D. Lundn, G. Finnveden and N. Lvehagen. 2010. Greenhouse Gas
Emissions and Operational Electricity Use in the ICT and Entertainment & Media Sectors.
Journal of Industrial Ecology 14(5):770790.

Malmodin, J ., P. Bergmark and D. Lundn. 2013. The future carbon footprint of the ICT and
E&M sectors. Paper presented at ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S), 9-12 February 2013, Zurich.

Malmodin, J ., D. Lundn., . Moberg, M. Nilsson and G. Andersson. 2014. Life cycle
assessment of ICT carbon footprint and operational electricity use from the operator,
national and subscriber perspective in Sweden. Journal of Industrial Ecology xx(x):xxxxxx.

Mills, Mark P., The Cloud Begins With coal. Sponsored by National Mining Association American
Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. Available at: http://www.tech-pundit.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/07/Cloud_Begins_With_Coal.pdf?c761ac

PTS (The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency). 2008. The Swedish Telecommunications Market
2007 - PTS-ER-2008:15. www.statistics.pts.se/start_en/. Accessed in October 2011.

PTS (The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency). 2010. The Swedish Telecommunications Market
2009 - PTS-ER-2010:13. www.statistics.pts.se/start_en/. Accessed in October 2011.

PTS (The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency). 2012. The Swedish Telecommunications Market
2011 - PTS-ER-2011:15. www.statistics.pts.se/start_en/. Accessed in October 2012.

PTS (The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency). 2013. The Swedish Telecommunications Market
First Half Year 2013 - PTS-ER-2013:21. www.statistics.pts.se/start_en/. Accessed in J anuary
2013.

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J. Malmodin and C.Donovan
Schien, D., P. Shabajee, M. Yearworth and C. Priest. 2013. Modeling and Assessing Variability
in Energy Consumption During the Use Stage of Online Multimedia Services. Journal of
Industrial Ecology 17(6):800-813.

Weber et al. 2010b. The Energy and Climate Change Impacts of Different Music Delivery
Methods. The J ournal of Industrial Ecology. vol. 14, no. 5. October. pp. 754769. Available
at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2010.00269.x


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